Inmate on death row wins access to court documents
March 21, 2014
Death row inmate, LaTwon Weaver won his court case against the San Diego County Districts Attorney’s office to gain access to numerous court documents. Weaver had petitioned the state for access to the filing records associated with every murder suspect in the county from the years 1977 to 1993. He also wanted access to any court records that could indicate that the District Attorney’s office in San Diego County was selective about which suspects were charged with a capital crime.
As of June this year, voters in California will get the chance to amend the state’s constitution. This amendment, if successful, will see local governments bearing the cost of making meetings and records open to the public. This important item will maintain government transparency and make sure information remains a matter of public record.
In San Francisco, California a driver with Uber has been accused of physically and verbally assaulting James Alva, a passenger. According to reports of the incident, the driver for the ride-share company made insensitive racial remarks and struck the passenger after the passenger threatened to report him to Uber by taking his photograph, and that of the vehicle’s license plate.
Recently, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block weighed in on the conflict of interest between the federal Freedom of Information Act, the California Public Records Act, and academic freedoms. Over the past few years, and with increasing frequency, faculty members’ scholarly work and communications have been requested as a matter of public record from UCLA and other public universities. According to Chancellor Block in an email statement released last week, faculty at public institutions must be protected from public records requests which could limit and threaten their academic research.